Annual gathering brings Main Street Association together

The Starkville Main Street Association introduced a new board member, new officers and a new budget at its annual meeting Thursday at the Greater Starkville Development Partnership.
Patrick Quinn, general manager of Mugshots, was the sole new member nominated for the board of directors, and the nomination was accepted unanimously.
A slate of officers nominated for the board, set to be formally elected at SMSA’s October meeting, was also announced. These included President Jeremy Tabor, Vice President Kim Jones, Immediate Past President Michelle Jones and Secretary-Treasurer Steve Langston.
In July, the board approved a budget for SMSA in one of its private monthly meetings. This budget was available for members to peruse at the meeting, with expenses for fiscal year 2012 set at $34,200 and revenues set at $64,500. Jennifer Gregory, Starkville Main Street manager, said the $30,300 budget surplus will be transferred to a savings account for capital improvements.
Members also had the opportunity to introduce themselves to each other one by one at the meeting. Gregory said she was proud to announce SMSA’s membership has reached 43, and she was grateful for leadership from Steve Langston, Melissa Dixon and others which helped raise membership.
“That’s actually since January, which is when we really started our membership push,” Gregory said. “We started from scratch.”
Gregory also presented several upcoming SMSA initiatives, including the Holiday Bazaar.
“Already, for this year’s Holiday Bazaar, we have sold out 92 booths,” Gregory said. “We’ll make our goal of proceeds $7,500 as a fundraiser for Main Street.”